New eats on the block
With the flurry of new restaurants opening in London recently you’d be forgiven for thinking that the capital was about to return to its boom years. Voyager rounds-up four of the best
WORDS | ROBINA DAM
FOR SERIOUS FOODIES… COLONY BAR & GRILL
When Atul Kochhar won a Michelin star at Benares in Berkeley Square, he joined a supergroup of Indian chefs who were changing the perception of Indian cuisine in the UK.
So with the recent opening of his Marylebone restaurant, comparisons were going to be tricky to avoid. Kochhar has avoided this by coming up with a different concept altogether: Colony takes the idea of sharing plates – misleadingly referred to as tapas-style, though this works in the bar – based on dishes from the Raj which have been updated for the 21st century.
The dining room feels exclusive, with largely plain walls save for specially commissioned art. They encourage you to order four to six dishes (£9-£15) for two people, although the tables are too small to fit on all the plates.
I’d urge you to try something that rarely features in Indian restaurants in this country yet is immensely popular in the subcontinent: mutton. “I marinate it in the spices for 48 hours and that’s why the meat is so flavoursome,” Kochhar tells me. “It’s a really unfashionable meat in Britain which is a shame as it carries the flavour so much better.”
7 Paddington Street, W1, +44 (0)20 7935 3353, www.colonybarandgrill.com
FOR FAR EAST FUSION FANS…. ROKA
The latest offering from Rainer Becker, creator of Roka and Zuma, combines the best of both.
The new outpost in Canary Wharf has the spacious setting of Zuma – there’s a bar area that not only does bar snacks but lets you order from the menu proper. The main dining room area faces the open-kitchen where you can see the chefs working on the robata grill. A private back room is popular with business types.
The menu has the best of the Charlotte Street Roka’s dishes – the cult black cod (£22.60) is as popular here, but they’ve made more of the Japanese risottos: the rice hotpot with eel (£16.90) looked, frankly, like unappetising porridge but worked the savoury tastebuds for more, more, more.
Their USP is the huge selection of shochu, the Japanese potato liqueur which comes in flavours such as pear, lychee and elderflower. Regular punters can buy a shochu jar – dated, named and lined up on a large bookcase – to dip into whenever they visit, making Roka look like Ali Baba’s house with the 40 jars.
1st floor, 4 Park Pavilion, 40 Canada Square, E14, +44 (0)20 7636 5228; www.rokarestaurant.com
FOR PARTY ANIMALS… CIRCUS
An unprepossessing front door off a quiet Covent Garden street hides one of London’s more bizarre restaurants. Above the long shared table hangs a circus hoop and several times during the course of the evening there is an acrobatic performance – a torch-juggling burlesque dancer, for example.
But entertainment hasn’t over-ruled good taste. It’s designed by Tom Dixon OBE, whose furniture you can also enjoy in bmi’s Heathrow international lounge. The globally inspired menu is just as ambitious, combining seafood jambalaya and wiener schnitzel among the mains (mostly around £16), with pan-Asian starters (£6-£10).
But this is not where you come for the food, or for a romantic date: the acoustics are more suited to clubland and the punters are busy whooping on the dancers. That’s what makes it ideal for large groups and parties.
27-29 Endell Street, WC2, +44 (0)20 7420 9300; www.circus-london.co.uk
FOR BLOW-OUT FEASTING… RED FORT
Technically the Red Fort has just celebrated its 25th anniversary – so why is a Soho institution that has long been beloved of thespians, politicians and the media crowd included in a piece about new eateries?
Well, it burnt down last year, and owner Amin Ali has spent seven months rebuilding it. He has taken the opportunity to give it almost a new identity, with a European twist on the menu that was formerly classic north Indian.
Gone are the chicken tikkas, and in come fabulous Scottish venison kebabs (£9). The team of chefs, though, is from all over the subcontinent and therefore you get regional specialities: a chef from Hyderabad, for instance, ensures that you get a perfect biryani (£18).
Portions are generous and given the swish cocktail bar downstairs, Akbar, drinks are done well. Time for them to throw a belated silver anniversary party; there’s a lot to celebrate here.
77 Dean Street, W1 +44 (0)20 7437 2525; www.redfort.co.uk
